Why Emma Hayes' departure won't end Chelsea's era of dominance as WSL champions begin life without USWNT-bound coach

After all, let’s look at the team that the new coach, likely to be Lyon boss Sonia Bompastor, is going to take over. It’s a squad that boasts 26 senior international footballers, an exceptional leader in Millie Bright and some genuinely world-class players, such as Catarina Macario and Sam Kerr, if the latter does as reports are suggesting and renews her expiring contract.

Even if it takes Hayes’ successor some time to adjust to the job, there are players at their disposal who can win games to allow the new boss that little extra time to settle. However, if there are a few bumps in the road in the first stages of this post-Hayes era, it shouldn’t cause too many immediate concerns either. That’s because it’s the rising stars in this team that make Chelsea a mouth-watering prospect.

Hayes is leaving behind a young squad, and while it is not as stacked as some of those from previous years – think about that which had Kerr, Kirby and Pernille Harder in full flow, for example, and reached the Champions League final – it could reach those levels in due course.

That’s because those who have shone this past season, which was a difficult one given the injuries the Blues had to deal with, are all still to reach their prime years. Hannah Hampton, aged 23, has already become the team’s first-choice goalkeeper and looks like she could hold that position for club – and maybe even country – for years to come. Jess Carter, still only 26 years old, has risen to the occasion in the heart of defence while Bright has been injured, holding down the fort despite the ever-rotating cast around her. Niamh Charles, the 24-year-old forward-turned-defender, has made the left-back role her own and been better than anyone else in that position in the WSL this year.

In the engine room, Erin Cuthbert, 25 years old, has shared captaincy duties with Charles and regularly produced in the big moments, most notably to give Chelsea a shock win in Barcelona, while Sjoeke Nusken, only 23, has had an outstanding first season in England despite playing no fewer than five different positions.

Lauren James, meanwhile, has become the leader of the Blues' attack over the course of the campaign. At just 22, the England forward possesses true world-class potential, and can still take her game to even higher levels.

That’s before we get onto the likes of Macario (24), Mayra Ramirez (25) and Mia Fishel (23), senior players with big international experiences who have shown glimpses of what they can offer and will contribute even more when they can have injury-free seasons.

And also before we talk about the young players coming through behind this crop, too. Chelsea have always had some homegrown talents in the squad – Drew Spence and Hannah Blundell are two of the biggest success stories, with Aggie Beever-Jones flying the flag right now – and they have long had an ability to develop young players signed from elsewhere, with Bright and Kirby two key examples.

However, it’s clear that in recent years there has been greater emphasis on signing these young stars, to the point that many more are coming from abroad as well as within England - and they are arriving at younger ages, too.

In the last two years alone, Chelsea have signed four teenagers who have shown real potential in their exposure to senior football, in Lucy Watson, Maika Hamano, Brooke Aspin and Wieke Kaptein – all of whom have then been loaned back out. Reports suggest they could add two 20-year-olds, in Barcelona's Julia Bartel and England youngster Ruby Mace, this summer, too.

The loan system is probably under-used in women’s football in England, but the Blues are taking steps to ensure they don’t let the opportunities it can provide go to waste, especially because they want to give young players a chance but know that stepping into this Chelsea team isn’t easy.

"I think we're at that stage of our journey now where we recognise that to play at this level is not as simple as just making a signing and bringing them into your club,” Hayes said last season. “That development pathway for the younger player now is going to involve preparation that might see them cross borders. The loan process is one that we should embrace, especially when the development of the league and the top teams in that league has just grown exponentially.”

It's clear this is not just Chelsea hoovering up talent without a plan of how that player gets into the first team, either. In fact, there are two obvious examples this past season of the Blues’ development plans working.

The first is Beever-Jones, who has been at the club since she was eight years old and has this year, aged 20, had a breakthrough season which ended in 11 WSL goals and a senior England call-up. That was after a loan spell in the Championship with Bristol City was followed by a stint with Everton in the top-flight. "She went on loan as an academy player and came back as a first-team player,” Hayes said.

The other is Hamano, who scored the only goal of the game at Tottenham last Wednesday to secure a win that kept Chelsea in pole position in the title race ahead of Saturday’s final day. Hamano was signed by the Blues after shining at the Under-20 World Cup for Japan and then loaned to the development-heavy Swedish league. She had to bide her team to get opportunities this season, but was superb when given them.

Beever-Jones and Hamano will be examples that others hope to follow in the coming months and years. This summer, Chelsea will welcome a whole host of young players back to the club from loan spells, with Aspin, Kaptein, Watson, Lexi Potter and Alejandra Bernabe among the most notable, the former two having ranked among the best young players in the world on the NXGN 2024 list of the world's best teenage talents. Some could stick around, others will take the next step in their loan journeys, but the hope is that all will be able to progress to the level of the Blues’ first team eventually.

More top teenage talent is sure to come through the doors in west London, too. Chelsea have been linked with many other young stars in recent years as they look for creative ways to constantly refresh this squad. The market for top, established players is becoming more and more competitive as the investment in women’s teams across England, Europe and beyond grows. The Blues, then, are doing their best to stay ahead of the curve while also still landing marquee signings.

Hayes might’ve been a very important part of Chelsea’s rise to the top of the women’s game in the last 12 years, but it’s clear that the club itself has developed to set it up for continued success. It is building for the future, trying to think ahead and, as such, the women’s team has not had a big transition period in the squad for several years.

This year will be the biggest test of that because Hayes has been a huge figure in all they have done. But the manager has spoken to the powers that be about where improvements can be made going forward, and if the club can act on those recommendations and has chosen her successor to the best of its ability, then there shouldn’t be many stumbling blocks.

That coach will inherit a squad that features world-class talent, senior internationals with title-winning experience, players approaching their prime years and prodigious teenagers with the world at their feet, all while joining a club that backs its women’s team massively, that has incredible resources and structure.

They will have pressure and expectation on them of course, because of the titles won, because of Hayes’ incredible tenure. But they’ll be given plenty of the tools needed to continue to deliver success to Chelsea Football Club.